(New: More details)
MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) – In Russia, the conflict between the leadership in Moscow and the private mercenary group Wagner has developed into an unprecedented power struggle. president Wladimir Putin branded the head and founder of the notorious private army, Yevgeny Prigozhin, as a traitor in a televised address on Saturday. “This is a stab in the back of our country and our people,” Putin said. Earlier, his ex-confidant’s mercenaries had seized control of Russian military installations in the south of the country, near the border with Ukraine. There was also fighting there. An armed Wagner column reached the Lipetsk region – about halfway to Moscow.
The mayor of the Russian capital, Sergey Sobyanin, urged people to stay at home and declared Monday a day off for safety reasons. “An anti-terrorist emergency has been declared in Moscow. The situation is difficult,” Sobyanin admitted on his Telegram channel. It’s about “minimising the risks”, there could be road closures.
The several thousand Wagner fighters have so far been one of the most important groups in Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which lasted exactly 16 months on Saturday. Prigozhin has long accused the Russian Defense Ministry of wrong tactics and bad leadership. So far, his criticism has primarily been directed at Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov – he left out Putin. Now, however, he also accused the head of the Kremlin of being seriously mistaken. It was initially unclear what effects the inner-Russian conflict would have on the course of the war.
Prigozhin was previously regarded as a confidante of Putin. So far he has been able to allow himself criticism for which others would have been punished long ago. Now, however, the head of the Kremlin publicly opposed Prigozhin. Putin said in his TV speech that anyone who takes up arms and organizes an armed uprising will be punished. He called on the Wagner fighters to immediately end their participation in criminal activities. Russia’s FSB secret service is investigating Prigozhin over an attempted coup.
The mercenary boss then accused Putin of completely misjudging the situation. “The President is badly mistaken,” he said in a voice message on his Telegram channel. He described his own role with the words: “We are patriots of our homeland.” Prigozhin announced that he would end “corruption, lies and bureaucracy” in Russia. The mercenary boss, who claims to have around 25,000 fighters at his disposal, openly challenged Putin for the first time. The Russian Armed Forces have about 1.5 million service members.
In Ukraine, recent developments in the neighboring country have been closely followed. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized: “Anyone who chooses the path of evil destroys himself.” The armed uprising is a clear sign of Putin’s weakness, Zelenskyj wrote on Twitter. “For a long time Russia used propaganda to cover up its weakness and the stupidity of its government. And now the chaos is so great that no lie can hide it.”
According to Prigozhin, his fighters occupied military installations in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, home to the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District – a command center for the war against Ukraine. In his speech, Putin confirmed: “In fact, the work of civil and military leadership is blocked.” Regarding the situation in the Rostov region bordering Ukraine, he said: “It remains difficult.”
According to the Kremlin, the Russian President is said to remain in Moscow. “Putin works in the Kremlin,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday, according to the state news agency Tass. Earlier there were rumors that Putin might have left for St. Petersburg. According to Tass, Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Putin and assured him “full support for the steps taken by the Russian leadership”.
According to estimates by the British secret services, Wagner units are now heading north – presumably with their destination in Moscow. The governor of the southwestern Russian region of Voronezh, Alexander Gusev, confirmed the fighting: “As part of an anti-terrorist operation, the armed forces of the Russian Federation are carrying out the necessary operational and combat measures in the territory of the Voronezh region,” he wrote on Telegram. An anti-terrorist emergency was declared in Moscow and the surrounding area, as well as in Voronezh. During the night, military vehicles were on the move in the city center of the capital.
The ruler of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, sided with Putin and announced that he would send his troops to put down the uprising. Like the Wagner units until recently, Chechen fighters are deployed alongside the regular Russian army against Ukraine. Kadyrov and Prigozhin, who are known for their brutal leadership style, have long been considered opponents.
The Russian Ministry of Defense asked the mercenaries to surrender. They were drawn into a “criminal adventure” by Prigozhin. “Please be reasonable and contact representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry or law enforcement agencies as soon as possible. We guarantee everyone’s safety.”
The British Ministry of Defense stressed: “In the coming hours, the loyalty of the Russian security forces and in particular the Russian National Guard will be decisive for the course of the crisis.” So far there is only “very limited evidence” of fighting between Wagner and security forces. This indicated that some Russian troops probably remained “passive” and gave way to Wagner. “The next 48 hours will decide the new status of Russia,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak tweeted.
The authorities in Moscow are now investigating Prigozhin for calling for an armed uprising. The domestic secret service FSB called on the Wagner mercenaries to arrest their boss.
Developments in Russia were closely followed in the West. According to a government spokesman, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is “continuously informed”. He also consulted with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. A crisis team met at the Federal Foreign Office. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) spoke to her colleagues from the other G7 countries about the situation.
Fighting continued in Ukraine despite the escalation in Russia. In a Russian rocket attack on the capital Kiev on Saturday night, three people were killed and eleven others injured, according to the local public prosecutor’s office. The attack, which claimed many lives, was one of the most serious Russian attacks on Kiev in recent times. Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Kiev has been repeatedly attacked with rockets and drones./bvi/DP/zb